Technical Airmen promoted to SGT should get equivalent pay of Diploma Engineer in IAF

Technical Airmen promoted to SGT should get equivalent pay of Diploma Engineer in IAF

One of our readers Shri. Anjan Dey expressed his views regarding Technical Airman’s grievances of not granting pay equivalent to Diploma Engineer even after getting promotion after 13 years of service. He sought central Government intervention in this matter since the 7th pay commission also failed to address this issue.

Anjan Dey writes..

Look at the benefits of joining in Indian Air Force as a Technical Airman. Long training, long working hours, maintaining and repairing the highly sophisticated and costly machines, but restricted to remain in the lowest pay band, starting from joining to leaving the service (initial bond of 20 years). This may be also a reason that only a few of these highly skilled and experienced Technical Personnel of the IAF, willing to extend their services after completing their initial bonds. The Service loses the experience and the skills, It takes years to know the sophisticated airborne machines thoroughly and by the time he learns, the initial bond ends and he finds no reason to extend his service further, because of the low salary and the very least chance of getting any further promotion. It is indeed a loss for the nation and the organization.

Technical Airmen of the IAF are either a civil diploma holder or 10+2 in Science. After their training, they become equivalent to a civil diploma engineer but the reason is unknown why they are placed in the lowest pay band (5200-20200) with an X group pay of 1400 Rs. only. The civil diploma holders are directly placed in PB-2 with a Grade pay of 4200 Rs. It is felt that, this is gross injustice and discrimination towards the Technical Personnel of the IAF.

Further, a civil diploma engineer starts getting degree engineer’s scale in 10 to 12 years, after getting promoted to an Asst Engineer or an engineer, but for a Technical Airman, even to get a diploma engineer’s scale, he has to complete a minimum of 13 years of service, clears all the relevant exams and becomes a SGT (Supervisor), but does he get the diploma engineer’s scale then also?

But the 5th and 6th Pay Commissions did not look into this matter. I had a great expectation that the 7th Pay Commission will ultimately take care of the Technical SGTs of the IAF, but as usual, it also did not remove the above mentioned pay anomalies. Why every Pay Commission has neglected the status and pay of the Technical Airmen of the IAF? There cannot be any argument that higher ranks deserve higher pays, but does that mean the subordinate staffs need to be suppressed and paid less? I request to the PMO and the competent bureaucrats please intervene at the earliest and remove the pay anomalies of the Technical Airmen of the IAF.

Now come to the point of Military Service Pay. What does that pay means? Commissioned officers 15500/-, military nursing officers 10800/- and the ranks, placed below the commissioned officers, only 5200/-? The subordinate ranks, including the JCOs, SGTs are less military than the military nursing officers? Do the JCOs, SGTs take command from any military nursing officer? During the war or exercise, will the military nursing officers guide the JCOs or the SGTs what to do? If no, then how a noncombatant staff will draw more MSP than the Combatant Personnel? Hence, MSP must be made equal for each and every combatant member of the armed forces.

It is requested the pay anomalies of the Technical Personnel of the IAF must be sorted out at the earliest

1. MSP of PBOR to be revised
2. Bottom scales to be multiplied by index 3
3. Diploma X group and TGT education Instructor should start with a rank of JWO and 4 years after WO and cancell X gp pay system, with grade pay 4200 equal to civil( old)
In army and navy, diploma personal are given JCO/PO, over the status and money they get X gp pay too.Day and night difference of Army and IAF in benifits. What a strange thing! it is
5. Either follow US AF pay system or come back to 3 or 4 CPC, in which JWO salary equal to an entry level officer.
6. Stop discrimination – in mess, canteen, Echs, accommodation etc. Never miss use men for there personal use.
7. Stop officers ration
8. In every officers are given much privileges over men and mem’ status, salary, other issues Unheard . These all injustice are accumulated now and see the out burst of men in social media. Please Do not bow before military leaders. They are not sincere to their men.

Please study the US AF pay scale . Accordingly salary of MWO is higher than a Lt. Col and less than Group captain. They respect experience rather than paper qualification or competitive exams.

Accordingly a buddy officer’s salary is equal to a JWO/Nk Sub. CC commission can be from HAV onwards the way they are doing it now.
25 years MWO’s skills respected at par with Lt Col of 11-13 years.
Now commissioned officers are enjoing time scales up to Col in 5 level a level 2nd Lt rank has been abolished. Earlier very hardly they became Lt. col before retirement.

Please refer the salary of MWO with Lt.Col of US AF
Please Search in google.
Each buddy officer should work under WO for two years on probation.They do not know anything other than very old theory . Please follow other services or armed forces to know more about it

Single mess, same toilet, mixed quarters, no separate queues. This is what US AF.
Your discrimination one day will be quetioned.
Wait for that day!

Officers would look after the welfare of their ‘brother officers’ The timescale promotion was revised in 2004 for officers and brought down drastically from 4 years to 2 years for Captains,
from 11 years to 6 years for Majors an d from 21 years to 13 years for Lt Cols. After the 6cpc Lt Col was recommended PB-3, but they fought for revision and got placed under PB-4. Now, in all probability, the NFU will be granted to Lt Cols and above and a Lt Col will retire with the pension of Major General or more even if he does not get promoted.

On the contrary, they are trying their best to downgrade HCOs to JCOs level. Upto 5cpc and HCOs, WO and MWO were placed much above regular Lts & Captains (refer 3CPC and 4CPC).

For example,
1. In 5CPC, HCOs has been fixed pay at Rs10500/-& 10850/-respectively. The regular Lts & Captains started with pay Rs8250/-& 9600/-respectively.With 6cpc, HCOs were brought at par with Regular Officers.
This being the fact why should they feel jealous of HCOs? Not all JCOs become HCOs. Honorary Commssion is granted after an unblemished service of 30 to 40 years depending on the arm of service.As long as this colonial mindset exists, HCOs and below can hope for only a lip service.

2. In 4CPC, pay of a starting officer, was equal to a starting pay of WO Rs. 750.

3. MWO pay was much higher than that Rs. 825.
In 3CPC , Flt.Sgt was equal an officer.

4. 5CPC, The pay of MWO brought down to an entry level officer.

5. For men it was a time scale
Cpl 5 years (total service)
Sgt 8 years (total service)
JWO 12 year, (total service) But now,
For men to get promotion , no more time scale but to face many exams- Sgt Edn test, GEB, then assessment etc. A person can only become JWO after 24 years now.
I become Sgt in 10 years, 3 months and cleared all my exams of JWO first time itself, but I was not awarded JWO rank even after 9 years 3 months in the same rank and came out as SGT, after 20 years of service.
It would be intersting to know what would be the difference in the pay scale of AC to SGT not even an increment of an officer!.Please refer 4,5,6 CPCs. For that one has to go through all above exams. Making the PBOR so foolish in the name of promotion, rank etc.
For instance,
LAC -passing mark is 70% !, there were airmen went out of service with out pension, because they could not rote muk multilple choice qustion for exam and couldnot pass with 70%.
CPL- Cpl education test
Sgt- Sgt education test and GEB
These all exams, men has to go through several times, but for officers , time scale!

By looking at the Standard of examination through out the service life , trainings offered one after another till retirement with the fast changes in technology , working in a highly sophisticated machin like fighter aircrafts, radars, communication devices, life is full of learning and practices. They are diploma holders in X group or 12th is the minimum qualification for Y group . Out of 20 years, 5 years will be spent only for courses and on job trainings, that would be much much higher than many Degrees. However they are identified as FITTERS. He is still OR even after 20 years. There status is equal to a Dhobi, Cook trade in the army now. What recognition we have out side!

Fitter!! OR!!! We are trying to forget those days of injustice. Now we are living with left over IZZAT and building our life after 40 year of age . We were never recognised out side as the one with this much experience in aviation /engineering back ground, because we are known as OR, fitters!

PBOR has to start a new life anyway to make his address. Of course these officers also retire and become and fit enough for security chief as they have no knowledge of the trade other than harssing others but a rank on the shoulder along a lot of ‘ izzat’. A few are are exception.

Do you know why, an engineering graduate who join as an officer, other than given rank nothing is there in his hand , to lead this highly experienced, trained PBOR is a difficult task. As we know what they have studied in the book no where seen in the world now. But with the given rank, power they are trained to suppress the PBOR who are already down graded Mentally , financially , bounded for 20 years. Under the paper qualified entry level officers with the ranks in their shoulder to lead the team leads to cheap complexes. They never respect or recognise men working with, use them for all kind of general works due their complex, hamper their self esteem with the power given to them ,that brings lose of confidence in PBOR, suffer 20 years long period of god part of energetic life, and waiting for a day to ran off This all happens in the name of discipline.

Highest human right violation take place in service, in the name of countries security. This is only in our armed force not in any developed world!

Please conduct a surway of all PBOR in IAF especially from 50% the strenght of IAF diploma holders, 100% of them will agree with me .Other men of non technicals, they join me at least 95%.
.

sir as we think about air force which is stand on two important pillor that is pilot and technition and others are supporter of these two group . but these days pilots are getting everything respect and all it is very good for IAF. but my question about technition they neglected in IAF by all other members. it very dangerous for organition to make or to maintain serviceability of aircrafts . as we know that the aim of air force to have more serviceable aircrafts for that technition are necessary .

Sir good afternoon
sir as per point of view its really bad news when I heared about 7th pay commission also continue same phenomenon that time our warrior very much disappointed and discouraged. We have lots of hope with 7th pay commission.but now things are same.no body. Think about soldiers. They are served the nation sensiourselly .but its really hurt about pay commission.

1. All officers, be it Flying Pilot (Fighter plane, Helicopter or Transport aircraft pilot), Technical Officer, Logistics, Admin/ATC, Education officers etc are compared with IAS. But all Airmen be they Aircraft Technicians (entry qualifications for which is Technical Diploma) or Musician, Caterer, Clerk, Safaiwala (army) are compared with constables. This is really a paradox in which one group (officers) are compared with the elitest in the civil & others (Aircraft Technicians) are placed much below their civilian counterparts.

2. I suggest the following to bring parity among service personnel and vis-a-vis civilian counterparts :

(a) Induct Aircraft Technicians as direct Sergeants, other technicians as Direct Corporal & others as direct Aircraftsmen. This will ensure that Aircraft Technicians will get the respect, status & salary what their civilian counterparts enjoy. A one time promotion to existing employees may be granted.

(b) The 7th CPC has suggested comman pay matrix for Group X & Y. The Group X Pay of 6200 will ensure pay parity with civilian counterparts (however lower status). Since increments are to be calculated from the pay matrix which are roughly 3% of Basic Pay (which is a multiple of Pay in Band + Grade Pay) unlike Pay in Band+ Grade Pay +Group X Pay in the 6th CPC, this parity will lost because the increments are not on Group X Pay. The Sgt of Aircraft Technician’s trade in IAF will get at least Rs. 200 less than their civilian counterparts. This is an anomaly & can be corrected if 3 different Pay Matrices are made (1st for Group Y trades, 2nd for Group X with X Pay of 3600 & 3rd for Group X with X Pay of 6200).

3. Pay parity issue is not only for Aircraft Technicians but for Education Instructor trade also. The qualifications required for this trade are same as for PRT i.e. Graduate with B. Ed. The civilian counterparts were granted grade pay of 4200 in PB2 whereas in IAF Education instructor is granted grade Pay of 2800 in PB1.

All belong to Defence i.e military. Then why there is difference in MSP ?According to 7th pay recommendation ,MSP for PBOR,MNS and OFFICERS are 5200,10800 and 15500 respectively. There is a huge difference .MSP shld be same for all.

The policy makers and their action should have some balance with the ground reality and the laws of the land.

In Group-1 Tchnical trades, the Diploma holder is directly recruited with one year training, LAC rank is given, within another two years corporal rank is given. whereas

Plus two entrants have initial training 15 months, work experience for two or more years, also complete two examination for AC1 and LAC classifications in group-2. Do the group-1 technical training for one year. Again group-1 AC1 and LAC classification examinations. He gets the Corporal rank in the 6, 7, 8th year.

The issue is over and complete. The Diploma holder becomes group-1 corporal in 3 years, without any classification examinations as AC1 and LAC, having completed only 12 months of training (he gets his Diploma benefits here). WHEREAS the plus two entrant becomes group-1 corporal in 8 years with 27 months training and four classification examination.

AS a group-1 technician both are having Diploma and degree qualification as recognized by the service. Both are doing the same job having the same level of competency.Holding the same rank and group there is no sensible reason whatsoever to discriminate the group-1 technical trade persons by virtue of basic entry qualification in the same rank making disparity in salary.

I fully agree with Sergeant Anjan Dey and all his claims are right. This issue had been discussed since 1972. There is no sensible policy makers to understand the basic truth. But they are busy to fight for themselves for a hefty pay and perks. They have no care for the men who toil day and night and sacrifice their life for this great nation.

Sergeant Anjan Dey the court may be the only solution. Even after 38 years this fact has not been resolved for clear solution. You may alert the group-1 sergeants for a contribution and we the ex-sergeants will definitely help to establish truth and national triumph.